New Delhi: A tripartite Memorandum of Settlement between the Centre, the Assam government, and the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) was signed here on Thursday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were present.
Shah said that this peace agreement is another significant milestone towards making the northeast insurgency-free by 2024 and fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a peaceful and prosperous northeast.
“This agreement will put a complete end to the insurgency and with this, there are no more armed groups in Assam today,” he said.
The Union Home Minister said that the Prime Minister has put forward the vision of a terror-free, violence-free, and developed northeast before the country and the Ministry of Home Affairs is moving forward in this direction.
He mentioned that under the agreement, the representatives of the DNLA have agreed to abjure violence, surrender all arms and ammunition, disband their armed organisation, vacate all camps occupied by DNLA cadres, and join the peaceful democratic process as established by the law.
As a result of this agreement, 168 cadres of DNLA are joining the mainstream by laying down their arms.
Shah said that this agreement would bring a complete end to the insurgency in the Dima Hasao district of Assam.
Under the agreement, the Dimasa Welfare Council will be set up by the state government to protect, preserve and promote a social, cultural, and linguistic identity to meet political, economic, and educational aspirations and will ensure speedy and focused development of the Dimasa people residing outside the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Council.
Along with this, the agreement also provides for the appointment of a Commission under Paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution to examine the demand for the inclusion of additional villages contiguous to the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) with the Council, a Home Ministry statement said.
(IANS)
